President Trump on Thursday offered praise for Sen.-elect Scott Colom, the Mississippi Democrat who pulled off a stunning upset in the state's Senate race, crediting him for appealing directly to Republican voters.
"I don't know the gentleman, but I give him credit," Trump said during an interview with sports commentator Stephen A. Smith at the White House. "I had a rally there, and we had lines that went 10 miles long, and he campaigned on that line, telling everybody in the line what a good job he did. I give him a lot of credit for that."
Trump was referring to a video Colom's campaign posted on social media just days before Election Day. The clip, which has since spread widely online, shows the Democrat working the crowd outside Trump's rally in Corinth, Miss., asking voters waiting to enter the event which issues mattered most to them.
In the video, many attendees pointed to high prices as a driving factor in their vote, while some voiced opposition to Trump's war in Iran and his tariffs. By Thursday night, the clip had drawn nearly 239,000 views on Facebook and roughly 555,000 on Instagram.
Colom's win became official Wednesday, when The Hill's election results partner, Decision Desk HQ, projected he had defeated Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by about half a percentage point. The call came after more than a week of tallying late-arriving and affidavit ballots. Colom had entered the race with just a 9 percent chance of victory in DDHQ's pre-election forecast, in a state Trump carried by 23 points in 2024.
There were hints the contest could be close. In the campaign's final stretch, Trump focused his rally appearances largely on historically Republican states and districts, including a stop in Mississippi on Hyde-Smith's behalf. The president has continued to argue, including in Thursday's interview, that Republicans lost because he was not on the ballot, even though he repeatedly urged voters to pretend that he was.
The result carries historic weight. Colom is the first Black senator ever elected by popular vote in Mississippi, and only the third in state history. The other two were appointed by the legislature during the Reconstruction era. Black residents account for more than one-third of Mississippi's population.
The race also added a new chapter to an existing rivalry. In 2023, Hyde-Smith blocked Colom from receiving a confirmation hearing after then-President Biden nominated him for a federal judgeship. Now Colom has returned the favor, denying Hyde-Smith a second full term in the Senate.
